Electronic Arts Reports Strong Q1 FY21 Financial Results

[btarunr]

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced preliminary financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2020. "This was an extraordinary quarter, and we're deeply proud of everything our teams at Electronic Arts are doing for our players and communities," said CEO Andrew Wilson. "We launched new games, deeply engaged players in our live services, and welcomed tens of millions of new players to our network. It was an unprecedented first quarter of growth in our business, and we will continue building on that strength with more innovative experiences, more groundbreaking content, and more ways to connect with friends and play great games throughout the year."

"Player engagement through the first quarter was exceptionally high, and well above our forecast," said COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen. "Our Stay Home, Play Together initiatives have been a strong tailwind for the business, as players look for safe and social entertainment in these difficult times. We are focused on delivering high quality titles for our players, combined with our incredible ongoing live services and increasing reach across platforms and geographies which should continue to expand our business over time."



News and ongoing updates regarding EA and its games are available on EA's blog at www.ea.com/news.

Selected Operating Highlights and Metrics

• Net bookings for the trailing twelve months was $5.980 billion, up 17% year-over-year.
• Launched Command & Conquer Remastered and Burnout Paradise Remastered during the quarter.
• During the quarter, EA delivered over 30 new content updates, including two major game expansions, and more than 50 mobile updates.
• Launched nearly 30 titles on the Steam platform during the quarter.
• During the quarter, Apex Legends launched Season 5 with engagement reaching its highest levels since Season 1.
• During the quarter, player acquisition for FIFA was up more than 100% year-over-year and up nearly 140% year-over-year in Madden NFL.
• Life to date, The Sims 4 has more than 30 million players across all platforms; daily, weekly, and monthly active player totals reached record highs for a first quarter.

Selected Financial Highlights and Metrics

• Net cash provided by operating activities was $378 million for the quarter and a record $2.017 billion for the trailing twelve months.
• EA repurchased approximately 747,000 shares for $78 million during the quarter, completing its $2.4 billion, two-year repurchase program.

Business Outlook as of July 30, 2020
The following forward-looking statements reflect expectations as of July 30, 2020. Electronic Arts assumes no obligation to update these statements. Results may be materially different and are affected by many factors detailed in this release and in EA's annual and quarterly SEC filings.

Fiscal Year 2021 Expectations - Ending March 31, 2021
Financial metrics:

• Net revenue is expected to be approximately $5.625 billion.
• Change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected to be approximately $325 million.
• Net income is expected to be approximately $869 million.
• Diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $2.97.
• Operating cash flow is expected to be approximately $1.850 billion.
• The Company estimates a share count of 293 million for purposes of calculating fiscal year 2021 diluted earnings per share.

Operational metric:

• Net bookings is expected to be approximately $5.950 billion.

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[Th3pwn3r]

EA, you can thank covid for so many new players. I guarantee there's going to be a huge decline of new players going forward. Unless even more people end up unemployed which I guess is possible. There's always a ceiling to be hit and then it's a downward spiral.

 

[steve360]

As if the greedy executives and shareholders need another excuse to enrich themselves with million dollar bonuses they clearly do not deserve.

 

[TechLurker]

But are they still in the top 5 of the most hated companies ever?

 

[BArms]

I wish people would stop buying EA games. I wish people would stop making EA games. Their franchises are nothing but iterative cash cows, most of the original visionaries long gone from each of them.